Deurpost

The Healing of the Lame Beggar
We read in Acts 2:46 that they were attending the temple every day. On one day when Peter and John were going to pray at 9 pm in the evening (which is apparently the hour of prayer) they saw a man lame from birth at the temple gate. We read that the beggar asks for alms, not healing, but that Peter replies that he will give him something far better instead. There are two ideas here to be identified. First, we need to recognize that this is a natural continuity of the work of Jesus Christ. In this case through the Holy Spirit through Peter and John. It is a continuation of what Jesus started in the Gospels. Secondly, this event could be considered the first miracle of the Church period. Both of these are comforting ideas. Another idea is that the lameness of humanity is the Church’s opportunity. Christianity came to give men life, to put them on their feet and to enable them to do without alms. They did not just give him an handout, they empowered him. They gave him a gift that canceled disability, communicated ability and created worship.

Peter’s Second Sermon
Peter’s second sermon is a response to the fact that all who witnessed the healing of the lame beggar were “were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.” (Acts 3:10). Again, like in his first sermon, Peter is addressing the Jews. He starts off by asking why the Jews are so amazed at this for Jesus performed all sorts of miracles when He walked the earth. Thereby saying that this miracle should not be ascribed to them but to Jesus. Again, he addresses that the Jews denied and killed Jesus (remember, Pilate tried to let Jesus go, but the crowd wanted Barabbas). Pharisees are the legalists, the literalists. They, to a fault, tried to take every detail of the Law and make a burden out of it. They were the extremists. The Sadducees were the opposite kind, they were the modernists, the liberals. They did not believe in the resurrection, and did not believe in angels, and did not believe in the supernatural. So during the life of Christ His conflict seemed to be in large measure with the Pharisees, because that was the power ruling block at the time. In the time shift here between that era and now, the primary power group were the Sadducees in the Sanhedrin. They were the ones that got unglued with a display of the supernatural. Certainly, the healing was a problem; but even more so the presentation that Jesus Christ rose from the dead was something that the Sadducees clearly could not handle. It went completely contrary to their whole position.

But then Peter says that the Jews “acted in ignorance” (Acts 3:17), although they were responsible and held accountable. Remember that Jesus says on the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34). The significance behind this idea is that ignorance makes the difference between premeditated murder and manslaughter. For manslaughter the remedy is the City of Refuge (Numbers 35:9-34). The principle here is that in ancient Israel there were no prisons or police force, and so six cities were appointed to where one could flee in case of manslaughter. A close relative thus became responsible to serve as the “avenger of blood,” (verse 12) and execute the divine sentence on a murderer. The cities of refuge were necessary, for fear that an angry relative take revenge on a person who killed a loved one inadvertently. This wise and humane system not only protected the innocent, but also secured Israel from the dangerous rounds of blood feuds common in many societies. One could hide in a City of Refuge until the High Priest died. Remember that all of Scripture talks about Jesus? Put Jesus in the center here and you will see that we all by our sins are responsible for the manslaughter of Jesus, that we should be kept safe from the Avenger of Blood (God the Father), and are in need of a City of Refuge. Who is our City of Refuge? Jesus. Who long can we stay there? Until Jesus (our High Priest) dies. When is that? Never! Once you are in the City of Refuge you are kept safe forever from the penalty of sin. Wow, what a security!

Peter then promises three results of repentance: (1) forgiveness of sins; (2) times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord; and (3) the sending of Jesus Christ, which refers to His Second Coming of which Peter then continues to talk about. In Luke 4:16-20, at the start of His ministry, Jesus quotes from Isaiah 61:1-2, but notice that when you read Isaiah 61:1-2 that Jesus does not finishes the second verse, but stops at the comma. Jesus did not include “and the day of vengeance of our God” because the display of his wrath awaits Christ’s second coming. But to “proclaim liberty to the captives” is a reference to the Year of Jubilee (Leviticus 25:10). The Jubilee year is very important to God. The Sabbatical year was so important the God put Israel into slavery for 70 years for not obeying the law. (2 Chronicles 36:21). In any case, Peter makes it clear that Jesus will remain in heaven until the times of restoration of all things, and since the repentance of Israel is one of the all things, there is some sense in which the return of Jesus in glory will not happen until Israel repents. Peter is essentially offering Israel the opportunity to hasten the return of Jesus by embracing Him on a national level, something that must happen before Jesus will return (Matthew 23:37-39; Romans 11:25-27). The main thrust of Peter’s sermon is that this is the natural outcome of their history. To the extent that they understood the Old Testament, they should not be surprised.